Auschwitz, Autumn, 1944. Saul Ausländer (Géza Röhrig) is a Hungarian-Jewish prisoner and member of the Sonderkommando, one of the cursed work gangs selected by the Nazi genocide machine to assist in the industrial slaughter of undesirables and perceived enemies of their genocidal regime.
It is difficult to discuss Evolution without giving away a lot of its surprises. Needless-to-say, Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s masterful film (only her second in a decade) is disturbing, beautiful and restrained. Mysterious from beginning to end, the film challenges and intrigues, reaching down inside to grab hold of something within us all that is ancient and primordial, engaging on a level that exists within not only a collective imagination but our collective biology
One often wonders what they would be capable of if their life depended on it. Would you take charge, delegate responsibility but do your part, or would you completely break down and cower in the corner? Would you be able to think clearly enough to find a solution to the problem or would your emotions be too overpowering?
In 2013, renowned Russian filmmaker Alexey German died before he could complete his astonishing final film Hard to Be a God which, after being completed by his wife, screenwriter Svetlana Karmalita, and his son Alexey German Jnr, screened at last year’s London Film Festival.
A quick search of the film Ruined Heart: Another Love Story between a Criminal and a Whore reveals that it is an expanded version of a 2012 short by Filipino poet Khavn De La Cruz (known simply as KHAVN) and that pretty much explains the feature’s shortcomings in a nutshell.
Yakuza Apocalypse is the greatest yakuza vampire movie ever made. It also appears to be the only yakuza vampire movie ever made, and if Miike’s surreal, violent, hilarious and unashamedly bonkers film is anything to go by, it will probably be the last.
Hitchcock/Truffat Written by Kent Jones and Serge Toubiana Directed by …
Director Pablo Larraín is known for his extremely fascinating social commentaries about his native Chile. Most famously, he tackled the Pinochet regime and its legacy with his trilogy comprising Tony Manero, Post-Mortem and No. With The Club, Larraín looks at Catholicism, another major Chilean institution, and the abuses of power that can occur within the priesthood.
The objectification of women and the ravenous consumption of celebrity culture are some of the very clear themes that inform the narrative of The Corpse of Anna Fritz, the debut feature of Spanish director Hèctor Hernández Vicens.
Following the brilliant A Touch of Sin, auteur and Chinese master Jia Zhangke returns with a similarly structured, yet more narratively linked, portrait of China in the new millennium. Mountains May Depart is two-thirds of a gripping relationship drama that captures not only a China in constant flux, but also the universality of human experience.
To describe Bone Tomahawk as a “horror-Western” is good shorthand, but could be a little misleading. The film indeed has horror elements but novelist turned screenwriter/director S. Craig Zahler seems more interested in spending time with his four main protagonists as they travel across country, letting their different personalities and world views, and the harshness of the terrain, challenge them on their journey
Assassination is pure entertainment. Director Choi Dong-hoon pulls together an astonishing group of talent both in front and behind the camera to portray a story close to South Korea’s heart with humour, pathos, gorgeous cinematography and a series of impressively bombastic action scenes to create one of the most exciting adventure films in recent years.
Der Nachtmahr Directed by Akiz Written by Achim Bornhak Germany, …
BFI London Film Festival: ‘Der Nachtmahr’ a shifty, unsettling debut feature Read More »
Suffragette Written by Abi Morgan Directed by Sarah Gavron UK, …
Stories about slavery can be a tricky proposition, especially if your story is from the Caucasian point of view, because there is a delicate balance to be struck when considering the protagonist’s actions and motivations.
The BFI London Film Festival draws ever closer and the …
BFI London Film Festival 2015 – Ten More Films to Watch Read More »
After a decade of attending the prestigious high profile BFI …
BFI London Film Festival 2015 – Top Ten Films To Watch Read More »
THE 59TH BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FULL 2015 PROGRAMME …
Between 1939 and 1947, the number of divorces in Britain …
Matrimony is an Agreeable State, is it Not? Marriage in Wartime British Cinema Read More »
[via the BFI] The programme for the 58th BFI London …
‘Fury’, ‘Foxcatcher’, ‘Mr. Turner’ headline BFI 58th London Film Festival 2014 Read More »
